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Every year I like to challenge myself to do something a bit mad with the extra leave that I buy from work. This year I'm thinking about doing a multi day bikepacking trip in the Alps. I was considering following a standard route like the Haute but Im leaning towards making something up myself. I think it would be cool to try and link up all the best trails around (but not limited to) the Tarentaise region which I know fairly well. OK its not exactly a new idea, White rooms do a guided week which I have been on and its amazing. This year though Id like to go self supported using lifts, funicular, bus where I can but also significant leg power. Iv collected a decent collection of ultralight bikepacking gear which should make it possible to ride the gnarly stuff.
Id like to include some areas I haven't ridden like La Thule and La Rosiere possibly others.
so what is your favourite trail in the Alps that must be included in this route?
Mine is Lavada trail in Les Arcs
I only really know bikepark and hectic DH stuff. I've been really impressed by some of the footage from the Stone King Rally so for multi day rides in strange new places I'd probably look here for inspiration...stonekingrally.org/touringclub/
Mine is Lavada trail in Les Arcs
'La Varda' and yes it's awesome. Scary at times (and not just the big dogs/wolves) but awesome:
I've only ever ridden the PduS marked trails plus the Les Arcs area (which I know much better). My favourite route is Mt Jovet. I'm aware there's variations, but from the summit to the refuge for lunch, then magic carpet, slam hill and the others, all the way down to Bozel:
The trails at La Thuile are great. My favourite is La Grave but it is 11/10 difficulty and danger, you've been warned!
https://www.trailforks.com/region/la-grave/?activitytype=1&z=13.1&lat=45.02915&lon=6.29250
Emosson Dam down to Martigny, having ridden up from Finhault station
It's epic - epic views, epic riding, epic railway up to the start. Finishes down an old, very winding path down into a gorge with some epic switchbacks.
@GavinB I wanted to try that trail when we were in Verbier last year, but didnt have the time. Ended up doing st Bernard pass down to Le Chable instead, which was a bit of a waste of effort and time TBH.
Each time I go to Alps I discover an epic trail. So many to choose from. I love a good ridgeline trail with a hike a bike to top and I've done a fair few. I dont mind climbing for a couple of hours to get to the good natural stuff.
Unusually for me, I will say that 2 standout trails for me are actually part of the MTB trail network - I wouldnt call them bikepark though
E7, Les Cretes in Meribel. Fantastic views at top. Only short climb up and a very long flowing descent.
Dev Albertville in Les Saisies/Beaufort. Free bus to almost the top!! short chairlift and really good long descent. Loved it.
The Emosson Dam route up there is rather good.
I'm lead to believe that if you time it right you can actually catch a bus up to the dam.
We've always ridden from the train station though.
There's also an epic route a bit further down the valley that we've done a few times but for the life of me I can't remember what it's called.
I'll have a think and see if i can remember. We always called it the hyperventilator as Mrsstu held her breath for so long on one of the descent sections she started hyperventilating. 🤣
Any trail with a decent refuge/ café where I can sit in the sunshine and take in the view is good for me.
I know many great trails in the Alps, but I've never ridden in that area
thanks for the ideas ! Emosson Dam looks amazing !
The beginnings of a plan is forming
Any trail with a decent refuge/ café where I can sit in the sunshine and take in the view is good for me.
Funnily enough the refuge at top of Col de Mille is actually cheaper to buy a drink and lunch at than down in Verbier itself lol! Ridiculous, but also rather satisfying 😀 - wouldnt choose it for a night out on the lash though
Hey, look, I’m in that photo of the best trail in the alps! Who’d have thunk it!
That must have been one of the rare times when I was actually in sight of you all as I gingerly picked my way down the trail in your dust!
It was an amazing trail, my favourite of the trip, but the climb in 40 degrees or so really was brutal.
Not vertigo though, Gav? That gentle warm up trail on the first day!! 🫣😱
Remember where the trail is.
It's a combo of Illpass and Illalpu into Obermäschlärt.
Possibly one of the best trails I've ever ridden. Bit of everything in it including a section of hikeabike.
https://www.trailforks.com/trails/route-de-l-illpass/
We finished by riding over this huge suspension bridge over a massive gorge at Bhutanbrücke.
If you ride over it in a group make sure you're at the front as the first couple of riders set off a huge wave that goes back along the bridge and scares the shit out of those at the back. 🤣
A very timely thread.
Looking at visiting Les Arcs and Chamonix this year, so I'll earmark that Emmosson Dam route - and hi GavinB 🙂
Not entirely sure whether I enjoy riding La Varda, more a sense that I came through unscathed! For tech, the Sick Track in Cham' would be up there. Lots of other steep pick your way down stuff too. After that it's all about cruising and flowy tracks for me (there's a lovely trail that drops into Switzerland, from Argentiere, I think). Haven't been for years, but would love to ride in Chamonix again. Really good mix of steeps and, relatively speaking, pootles.
The descent from the gondola station back down to Aosta, at Pila. This is a cheating answer because there's loads of options in it, but, I got addicted to just doing top to bottom runs. Wee pedal back to the gondola then off we go again. There's better trails- though it is brilliant in its own right0 but the combination of variety, ease of access, speed of lap etc and the sheer stupid length of it puts it above anythign else, for me.
If you could get the gondola direct to the start of la varda then it'd go up in my estimation 🙂
I forgot I have an old video of some of the trails in La Grave... https://www.pinkbike.com/video/417060/
The descent from the gondola station back down to Aosta, at Pila.
That's an old favourite. I heard it was closed due to some kind of access dispute as it passes through multiple people's property. I hope it's all sorted by the time I get back out there.
La Varda. Forgot I had this! Almost 10 years ago now so quality somewhat lacking (camera and rider...). 3m55 not a bad place for an OTB on La Varda, given how much worse it could be if it happened on another part of the descent.
The descent from the gondola station back down to Aosta, at Pila.
Theres some, IMO, much better trails than that at Pila. The Ridgeline at the top Couis into 21b (footpath name, really good fast trail) and Rocky Balboa (footpath 102, really rocky to test the suspension+arms out!). But if you prefer the manmade stuff, then you might not agree.
The megavalanche route is amazing particularly if you can do it without hundreds of other idiots at the same time
Will bookmark this thread ready for this summer’s trip 🙂
Looking to get out of the bike parks a bit more than usual.
If you could get the gondola direct to the start of la varda then it’d go up in my estimation
I think it would go down in mine
That fact you have to put some effort in to reach it means its quieter and takes less of a hammering. Also some power ranger would eventually hurt themselves and access rights would be lost.
I dont want the whole ride to be this level of gnar though - luck runs out eventually 🙂
Flow trails, ridge lines, bike park tracks are all valid 'best trails' !
Keep em coming
Will bookmark this thread ready for this summer’s trip 🙂
Looking to get out of the bike parks a bit more than usual.
Same. For me just getting out there will be a major accomplishment after the last few years!
@Ally, I had to pull a fellow rider up the bank after going off the edge further around. A brown shorts moment for him I'm sure. Gawd know what stories SteveO, BikeVillage and the TrailAddiction teams have!
Came here to say La Varda, but I see it's already well covered.
Les Arcs is my happy place.
Emosson Dam is mint. I made a point of riding it when I did the Tour De Grand Combins in 2019. Easily as good as I remember it. Jackass in Verbier from the very top of the mountain is another banger for me.
No doubt there are many more great rides in the Alps but they really stand out for me.
Cheers
Sanny
Well, this thread has put Morzine well and truly in its place, must be the first Alps-based STW thread where it doesnt feature in every response.
Emosson Dam is good, and you can catch the post bus at Finhaut. Plus there's a small funicular that I've never tried using. Fairly easy to do from Chamonix or Martigny area. 2 options at the top, if you stay on the higher trail, it's pretty nadgery in a "not steep enough to keep momentum" type way.
I love that Meribel ridge ride too, once you're up the climb at the start. Ditto Col de Milles , but Bruson is open now.
For views, Blair Switch in Chamonix is a fav, and the long descent from the Brevant down to Les Houches.
I love Tremalzo at Garda - even with the long rubble descent at the start and the sanitisation of the later bits down to the lake and lots of double track - not one for everybody. And 601 if you avoid the craziness of the 'Bike Park' ending to it and switch onto Coast or one of the others.
If your flush, or fancy a treat, check out the Hobbit and Yo-Yo trail in Zermatt. Pedally, but you're pretty much pedalling under the Matterhorn.
Sorry - didnt answer the question. It's not that long, but the Bunker Trail in Nauders was one of my favourite trails from last year. Pretty much a 5km rock garden once it gets going, with a bit of history thrown in.
Oooh, is it too late to add Plaine Morte from Crans?
Well, this thread has put Morzine well and truly in its place, must be the first Alps-based STW thread where it doesnt feature in every response.
That's because almost all Alps threads are "Where should I go for my first trip to the Alps?". Morzine is still the winner in that category.
This is about a multiday bikepacking trip. Personally, this is the first year in a long time where I won't be with my girlfriend so I'll be looking for longer, harder rides outside the bikeparks.
The descent from the gondola station back down to Aosta, at Pila.
^^^^ this.
It is awesome. That bit with the fence almost all the way across the path that you can sort of jink around at speed and let out a sigh of relief before remembering the next corner is deep in dust and has no grip at all. The steep linked esses. The serious bit of rough stuff at the bottom with the trees flashing by at over 60kmh.
Never did get down the Sam Hill bit without binning in the loam. Usually stuck to the main drag options and cranked out the laps. Grin every time.
And in particular, that day when it had rained just the right amount to settle the dust and get everything tied down with some extra grip.
Most of my time in the alps has been around BsM.
Echoing the comments above Pila top to bottom is brilliant, Mont Jovet/magic carpet (mentioned above) is ace but a PITA to get to.
In Les Arcs there is some cracking riding off the Vallandry side; Axe Wound and Jackson's in particular and then finish off with a run to the bottom by dropping from Pracompuet to Nancroix then traversing the western side of the valley to the Miners trail then taking the Leat to Villars.
On the north side of the valley dropping from Le Col du Petit St Bernard via Dream Forest/Carnivorous Bum Slugs in La Rosiere is a decent descent. As is the forts ridgeline from Fort de la Platte.
That’s because almost all Alps threads are “Where should I go for my first trip to the Alps?”. Morzine is still the winner in that category. This is about a multiday bikepacking trip.
Well not really, on either account. These trails aren't multi day or bike packing. Mostly they're off piste rides using lifts in bike parks. PdS just doesn't have trails in the same league.
Mont Jovet was the first which came to mind, the hike a bike up there, the refuge for food, the ride from there ending up in the lake in Bozel with a beer.
The Aguillette de Posettes to Montroc in Chamonix also memorable not because of its epic nature but the location plus was my first time biking in the Alps.
The mont jovet riding is awesome. But not worth the climb, for me. I died, twice. You wouldn't get me back up there, not when there's riding that's basically as good, that's easy to get to and that doesn't take so much of your day. Of course, that's a personal thing, for other people in our group the whole "we climbed a ****ing alp!" and the whole bigness of the experience is important for it, for me I like that stuff but I'm really there for the next 100 metres of trail, people experience things very differently.
(which is kinda what I was getting at with choosing pila freerider over la varda- yeah you can look at a trail in isolation but you can also look at it as a whole big picture and consider opportunity costs etc, is the trail as good as the 2 or 3 trails you miss out on to do it? Is smashing through the mega-innerleithen stuff in lower La Thuile on chairlift laps less good because it's got no views and the air isn't thin? There was a descent at Les 2 Alpes that was probably my favourite in the resort in isolation, but, teh chairlift ride was orrible and so the "loop" for me was too)
Selfishly, my faves won't be posted here, but some of the stuff up there is quite good.
Selfishly, my faves won’t be posted here, but some of the stuff up there is quite good.
I thought about that before posting anything above, but I've not ridden anything that's not already well enough known not to be able to share. Some of it's even named on Trailforks now it seems.
Do you know if Plaine Morte is e-bike friendly or are there some sections we’d have to carry?
Considering doing it tomorrow but don’t want to end up stuck anywhere. Info is a bit limited.
I really like Grobag (or maybe Growbag), but that's a fairly short trail that's used as the final descent on some of Bike Village's rides so I'm not sure it's the sort of thing you're looking for! It somehow just manages to include a lot of characteristics I like in a trail.
E7, Les Cretes in Meribel. Fantastic views at top. Only short climb up and a very long flowing descent.
Assuming that's the one that goes all the way along the ridge then yes defo. Did it with the family and loved it. The other one that drop right early on is shit in comparison.
L'Infernet at Montgrnevre to Briancon is amazeballs. Not quite good enough to make up for the dross that is Montgrnevre bike park, but nearly.
Col de Granon to Briancon is amazing. The last pitch below the fort is 1) beyond amazing 2) never to be done since it kicks stones, bikes and bodies straight onto the road
Vernier to Martigny had some lovely bits, but truth be told was a bit too spicy for us farther down. The bit I clipped my handlebar on the cliff took four years off my life.
More relevant to your trip, the GR 5 from col d isersan to Val d isere is a bit pants. And definitely not worth riding an enduro bike all the way up in pads and Fullface . No sir...
L’Infernet at Montgrnevre to Briancon is amazeballs. Not quite good enough to make up for the dross that is Montgrnevre bike park, but nearly.
Seconded. The trails off the back of Serre Che' alongside the Torrent des Sachas are pretty amazing and fairly chilled out. I'd also say the trail off the back of Puy At Vincent from pre rouge down the Fournel valley is good too.
Top of Rissoul 1850 to the valley floor along the ridge line is pretty special.
Le Saisses enduro down to Albertville is also a spectacular ride.
The mont jovet riding is awesome. But not worth the climb, for me. I died, twice.
The first time I got up there I was done and ended up coming down the easy way. I’ve seen the same thing happen to a few others since then too. However this year in a different part of the Alps I do have to say that I did miss some of the epic big mountain days that I’ve done in the past.?
Is this the Verbier - Martigny route? How spicy is too spicy?
How TF do you narrow that down?
The alps has one of the largest trail networks of any mountain range due to the large population and relative accessibility of its mountains..... It's got everything.
(Finale Ligure is geographically part of the alps, too).
Why not ride a Transalp? North to south, plenty of routes.
Or have a look on Komoot. (old mate of mine Holger S. has loads of routes).
What bike you taking?
this the Verbier – Martigny route? How spicy is too spicy?
That's the one
Starts off nice.
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Then drops off the back
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Then gets steep and really good. I enjoyed the next bit but the family were getting a bit psyched out by the exposure ( I think they were 14 and 16 then)
But onc it gets in the woods it just gets a bit silly. Loads of bits where you realise that there's cliffs just below you with only a bush or two in between. Then bits with proper drops underneath.
Don't get me wrong, it's not Vertigo by any means. I'd like to do if again in the unlikely event that I ever go back to verbier, but it wasn't a good ride with that group
Cheers. We’ll see how brave we’re feeling when we get there.
We’ve got plenty of other stuff to ride in Verbier that we did last year guided, would be nice add a couple of things we haven’t done before too.
sometimes I’m happy with the exposure… other times not. Will see how it goes!
I think the best trails I’ve ridden in the Alps were in or around the Sause D’Oulx area. They were proper ancient stone tracks That were brilliant. I think they were either part of the Alpi Bike Park or somewhere near there. It was about 10 or more years ago and I c an’t remember the names. The area was great and I reckon with e-bikes it would be even better nowadays.
It’s such a good area that I believe Sven and Anka Martin decided to make it their home base. Worth doing some research online as when we went there was very little info.
Tried to do Plaine Morte at Crans Montana today, too much snow on the access track so didn’t get to the top. The gondola wasn’t taking bikes either, apparently due to the snow.
Will have to try again sometime.
It’s such a good area that I believe Sven and Anka Martin decided to make it their home base.
I thought he was in Molini, Liguria, after having previously been in France.... He talks about it on the Downtime podcast.
I could be wrong, I regularly am.
The descent from the gondola station back down to Aosta, at Pila
Having been a few weeks ago, that is indeed pretty vague 🙂 the worst trails were the bike park stuff - venture a few hundred metres from those though and just, fkn, wow!
The Pila to Aosta freeride (that must be what was meant) is still amazing, but you have to cut down to start it, the top section is closed.
But yeah, the footpaths slightly further out are incredible.
Saw footage of a pro riding 21b(?) the other day and it took me right back.
We did 21b I think it was on the last morning and it was a relentless roller coaster of amazing, rock infested, warp speed riding with a great mix of "this is ****ing amazing" screaming and "oh s**t I'm going to die as this is way to fast me/the bike/the terrain" stuff!
I’d also say the trail off the back of Puy At Vincent from pre rouge down the Fournel valley is good too.
Is that this one from Les Tetes? @mrhoppy
https://www.trailforks.com/trails/bois-de-la-pignee/
One of my favourite routes in that area is pedal/lift from Vallouise to PSV, down into Fournel, climb to Col des Lauzes, down to Fressinieres, then drop down from Pallon to Roche-de-Rame and catch a lift home from the lake with the family.
Heading back next week. Sounds like I should do l'infernet.
After watching the Galibier stage of the TDF I got chatting to a couple of eccentric yanks (one might have been Canadian) with mountain bikes, one lived in La Grave and told me I simply had to ride there. Next morning I rode Avag One followed by Cote Fine and would say they were both the best trails I've ever ridden but also the hardest. On the second run my hands were so sore I had to stop every twenty seconds to rest. I was definitely under biked on the brake front with XTR Race levers and 180mm rotors!
The spectacular backdrop of Le Meije helps with the ambience too if course.
Heading back next week. Sounds like I should do l’infernet.
We got the guy with a huge pickup at the hire shop in Serre Che to uplift us to Montgrnevre. So much better than the shit taxi service with a brand new shit bike rack that swivelled on every corner and looked like it would fall off at any minute.
Full details on the briancon thread if you do a search.
one lived in La Grave and told me I simply had to ride there. Next morning I rode Avag One followed by Cote Fine and would say they were both the best trails I’ve ever ridden but also the hardest.
Could you describe them a bit more please?
Really interested in checking this spot out next year.
@cha****ng: The gondola takes you up to the first station at 2416m more than 1000m above the base station, most of the trails start from here. You can go up to the top station at 3211m and there is a trail that picks its way down from there, if there's not snow up there of course. The hillside that the lower trails goes down is very steep (staircase angle) and the six trails really embrace the angle. There are some nice swoopy sections but skinny rocky handbuilt singletrack is the default setting with really challenging features coming at you with little respite. I thought their builders had managed to get proper flow into the trails even at the crawling speed I was going down them. I did however ride almost all the sections until the last optional pair of drops down to the side valley river crossing (I dubbed them the "Drop of Death" and the "Drop of double Death"...I wonder if I'm the first person to manage to bail out half way down the LH one and manage to down climb it with my bike without wiping out? I just felt I didn't have enough upper body strength to keep the bike on the line if I went for it fully).
We went up to the beginning of the Pierre Avoi hike a bike today to recce it for tomorrow and decide if we thought we could get e-bikes up there. Then seeing as we were there anyway decided just to go for it.
I see what you mean about the exposure, I spent alot of time not looking down to the right 😀
Cheers for the info, a great way to spend an afternoon.
Cool. How did the group rate it? Would you go back, did you push much?
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Best of all you get to ride the gondola that looks like it should be in the museum
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Awesome ?
Group was just the 2 of us.
Highly recommended on the epic “I got to ride all the way down the mountain to the valley floor” scale.
You’re right about the overall difficulty not being too bad but there were a couple of short features I pushed past, ones that I’d probably have a go at riding if there wasn’t a vertical forest on my right hand side!
The push up to the top wasn’t too bad with the eebs either and we timed the train back to perfection.